How do I proceed to wipe out these mites?

[rainbowgardens]

I just reached under a broody hen in my coop and ended up with what i assume are mites all over me.

I plan to completely clean the coop first thing in the morning and then go shopping for supplies to fight this plague. My shopping options are tractor supply and Southern States. What products do these stores carry that I should buy?

I'm also wondering how I go about treating the birds themselves. I have 19 hens free rangeing through the yard and an additional 25 fourteen-week-old chicks that sleep in a chicken tractor at night. That's a lot of birds to catch and treat. How do I know who got treated? What should my plan of attack be?

I am planning to burn the coop litter on one of my empty garden beds but worry that a lot of the mites will escape and get back to the coop/chickens.

I am totally unprepared for this and need all the help anyone can give me. Thanks!

 

[lurky]

This is the best treatment for the birds. One dip in a diluted bath of this and its DONE!
http://www.randallBurkey.com/PERMETHRIN-10-8-OZ/productinfo/26091/

Then dust the the areas or clean it out of shavings and spray it down with this liquid as well.
I would dilute it and put it in a spray bottle.
If you call the company, they will offer you advice too. They have poultry dust, but its currently cheaper to buy at the farm store.

 

[crj]

A couple years ago I took in some chickens that had mites pretty bad on there legs. I dusted there legs very well with Sevin Dust. Did it again a week later just to be sure we got the mites. I even put it on there perch. Never had another problem.

I dust there coop and pen with Sevin Dust once in a while just to keep mites away. Hope this helped.

 

[rainbowgardens]

I just checked the Southern states website as well as Tractor supply, and it appears they both carry the permithrin 10. I'll spray down the coop after it's cleaned out and I'll attempt to catch each chicken and give them a dunk in the solution.

The thought of using Sevin scares me because I garden and live organically, but I need to get this problem under control quickly.

I need to be more proactive in the future. I'm ashamed of how casual I've been with coop cleanliness. In my three years raising chickens I've never treated the coop for pests, only changed out the litter. how often should I be treating?

 

[rainbowgardens]

Do I need to dunk their heads under the permithrin solution in case any mites are up there?

 

[OregonChickenGal]

No, do not dunk their heads.

 

[lurky]

Quote:
I tried to gently splash a little up the neck to get as high as i could.........wear gloves, and maybe just pet the birds head to get a little on there.
I was told the bugs HATE the smell of VET RX, and to put that on the head to prevent them from all going there.......but this kills the bugs instantly so just
try with gloves to get some on top of the head.
I had a bird start flapping her wings and she fell head first out of my hands, and into the bath

Then the stuff was splashing all over as she tried to right herself. This made it seem to take forever to save her.
I was so afraid she would die, but she was totally fine. So i think it will be fine to splash a little

If you use warm water, it wicked relaxes the bird in the soak, and once she is in, its not too tough to work with her.
This will probably keep bugs off for a long time, i notice its the ingredient in the flea stuff for the dogs that you put a few drops on and it lasts a month.
I used it on my birds for mites 2 yrs ago and they havent gotten them again yet.

 

[dawg53]

I've been using sevin dust all my life in vegetable gardens, on my dogs and chickens with no ill effects on myself, anyone or anything. To this day, I continue to use it in my garden and on my chickens. You can put a little bit of the dust on their heads, just dont get any in their eyes or nostrils....I dust my chicken houses once a week after I clean them out and havnt had any issues with lice or mites.